


Osaka Lows

by JesusCheese



Series: Gimme Some Sugar [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Exhaustion, Fainting, Hurt/Comfort, Hypoglycemia, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun is Whipped, Na Jaemin-centric, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:20:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24101236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JesusCheese/pseuds/JesusCheese
Summary: "Is he concious?""He's awake, but it's like he's not even there. What do I do? Please...tell me what to do."...Jaemin's hypoglycemic, and he's forgotten to pack extra food. Jaehyun's absolutely, 100% freaked the hell out.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun & Na Jaemin, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Na Jaemin
Series: Gimme Some Sugar [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1738897
Comments: 28
Kudos: 442





	Osaka Lows

**Author's Note:**

> For Nana, who requested one with Jaehyun and Jaemin!  
> Hope you all enjoy, and read the first story in this series if you haven't already! it kind of gives a backstory to this.

Despite being in the same group, it wasn’t often that every member of NCT actually got to see each other. Subunits operated on different schedules completely, leaving only small amounts of time to have an actual conversation with the other boys. 

Most of the time, they chose to spend it with their main subunit, sleeping or eating or hanging out. It was just...easier.

Despite the constant schedules, every member made it a point to do all of the bonding that they could. Doyoung and Jeno had hit it off almost immediately, nearly every 127 member adored Chenle, Renjun boded gracefully with the elder Chinese members, and Jaemin- oddly enough, bonded with Jaehyun the most.

It wasn’t all that widely known- not like Doyoung and Jeno’s adoration for each other, but Jaehyun and Jaemin just...clicked.

They watched the same movies, ate the same foods, had compatible personalities, and simply enjoyed each other’s company.

It was a thrill when they became roommates in Okaka.

Out of all the 18 members, Jaemin was more than happy with getting his favorite 127 hyung as his roommate. He knew that rooming with one of the dreamies would be more of the same thing he did every other day, and rooming with a less-familiar hyung would quickly turn awkward. Jaehyun was perfect.

After exchanging a quick hug, they sat back down and watched the rest of the members pick their fates, groaning dramatically if they were comfortable enough or cheering when they didn’t want to hurt feelings.

Jaemin couldn’t help the niggling feeling of sadness as Jaehyun wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He really wished that the members were closer with each other as a whole. They were friendly, sure, but he wanted more- inside jokes, teasing, day trips with Taeil or Hendery (once the other finally made his debut), sleepovers and video games with anybody other than Jeno. He always pummeled Jaemin to the ground.

Jaemin would have to make that his own personal quest- mission NCT bonding time. Until then, though, he was content with filming and hanging out with Jaehyun.

He let Jaehyun do the honors of opening their door, revealing their shared room for the first time- one large bed for the two of them, a flatscreen directly opposite of it, a large window next to it, and a miniature kitchen and sofa off to the side. It was...certainly a hotel room.

“Not the worst I’ve ever been in,” Jaehyun approved of the room, dropping his luggage against the wall. “I’ve got to get a shower before we start filming. I feel gross.”

“Go for it, hyung. I’ll unpack a little bit and wait.” The younger kicked off his shoes and dug through his bag for a pair of shorts, pulling them on and settling on the bed with his phone in his hand.

“Once I’m out, I think we should have a couple of the other boys over to film together,” Jaehyun mentioned, tossing his shirt out of the open bathroom door and onto the floor. “Will you ask around and get a few of them to come?”

“Sure thing.” He opened the group chat, shooting a message to everybody, saying that he and Jaehyun were lonely. It was an exaggeration of the truth, sure, but it did the trick. Three pairs of roommates seemed to share in their boredom and loneliness.

Before long, his room had six new guests- Ten, Haechan, Doyoung, Yuta, Jeno, and Jungwoo.

Jaehyun had exited the bathroom, hair wet, towel around his waist, and nearly fell on the floor when Haechan sprung out at him. This prompted a wild chase around the room, ending with Haechan in a headlock and Jaehyun’s towel barely hanging on. 

“You’re lucky I didn’t punch you!” Jaehyun mock-yelled, releasing the younger and retreating to the bathroom to change without seven probing eyes. “Somebody set up a camera!”

Doyoung pulled his out, setting it on the dresser and flicking it one. “Hello!” he called. “Yuta and I decided to camp out in Nana’s room because we were too lame to entertain ourselves,” he began. “There’s a few other visitors too.”

The rest of them popped in, waving to their fans. “Hello!”

“Ten is with Haechan, I’m with Yuta, Jeno’s with Jungwoo, and Jaemin-”

“Is lucky enough to have me,” Jaehyun intercepted, stealing the camera. “Let’s give a little tour, shall we?”

He paraded around the room, displaying the spotless hotel room. “I haven’t had enough time to make a mess of it all just yet.”

“Isn’t that your underwear on the ground, though?” Haechan asked, teasing the elder. Jaehyun fake throat-chopped him and set the camera back down on the dresser, turning to the rest.

“What should we do to pass time time?” he asked, looking to all of his members. “I suggest a game.”

“Zombie!” Jungwoo cheered. “Please! I love zombie, and eight members is the perfect amount!”

None of them could argue there, especially when Jungwoo was so eager. Despite being one of the elders in the current company, he still certainly had the cuteness of a maknae. They set up a few of the other cameras that had been brought over, trying to get many different angles on one of their favorite games.

Jeno was the zombie first, feeling around carefully while shuffling about. He reached Ten’s hiding spot and felt around, but Ten had folded himself in a way that no man (no human, really) should've been able to do. He made it away unscathed. After much searching and taunting, Yuta was found.

And so, they continued, playing for nearly 45 minutes before Jaemin was finally found. By then, the game had dissolved into somewhat of a blindfolded tag game, complete with Doyoung faceplanting and Haechan dramatically crying over the bruise on his shin. Everybody’s stomach hurt from laughing.

It was tiring.

Jaemin had no energy to run, so he just listened for harsh breathing and giggles, almost immediately finding Jungwoo. Bless the sweetheart, he was so damn bad at the zombie game, it was almost comical.

“Has everybody already done it?” Jaehyun asked, nodding at the members' affirmations. “I think we’ve got enough footage, don’t you?” He lifted up the camera. “Say bye!”

They all waved to the camera lens, smiling and sweaty and out of breath. “Bye guys! Hope to see you soon!”

The red light shut off, and Jaehyun laughed. “As much fun as this has been, it’s nearly midnight, and I’ve still got some roommate filming to do. The rest of you do as well. Go spend time with each other; show the fans that we are one-”

“Exo,” Haechan finished somberly, grabbing Ten’s hand and pulling him up. “Let’s go show out brotherly love, Ten.”

“Ten hyung,” he corrected, pulling his hand away. “If you try to show them under my robe again, I’ll actually make you sleep on the floor.”

“That was one time!”

“One time was enough! If the footage ever got out, we'd all be done for. Do you understand what kind of talking to we would get from our managers? From our CEO? I'm not body-conscious at all, especially down there, but I do not like being yelled at, Lee Donghyuk. I won't let you- '' The rest of them slowly funneled out of the room, leaving only the original roommates, laughing over Ten and Haechan’s small conflict.

“Those two are going to kill each other,” Jaehyun chuckled.

“Bold of you to assume Haechan has a chance.” The younger walked over to the mini-fridge, frowning at the lack of drinks in there. Normally, there were quite a few supplied by the hotel. “Hyung, do you have anything to drink?”

“Water on the counter,” Jaehyun murmured, settling into his side of the bed and flipping through movies on the TV. “You’re welcome to it.”

Jaemin didn’t need water. He needed juice, soda, gatorade, anything...He could tell that the shakes in his hands were going to extend up into his whole body before long, and he was long overdue for his before-bed snack. He just couldn’t interrupt the game like that. He walked to his bed and grabbed his phone, slipping it into his pocket and grabbing his key card.

“I’ll be right back,” he told the elder.

“Where are you going?” Jaehyun asked. “I don’t mean to sound annoying, but we’ve got filming, and I was hoping we could watch a movie or something before bed.”

“Yeah, I’d love to,” Jaemin smiled. “I’ve just got to go talk to Renjun really quick. Get the movie ready and I’ll be back in no time.”

“Alright. Got your key card?”

“In my pocket.”

“Cool. See you in a minute.”

“Yup.”

He escaped the somewhat suffocating room, taking a deep breath in the cool, empty hallway. It seemed that all of the members had gone to their own rooms for the nights, but by the muffled sounds echoing off the walls, none of them were actually asleep. Jaemin tried to listen in, turning left of his door, ears tuned specifically for Renjun’s lilting speech. He knew that out of all of them, Renjun was known for having snacks on him. It was silly that he was more likely to keep sweets than Jaemin himself, but in that moment, Jaemin wasn’t berating himself for not keeping a full stock.

He was desperately wandering back and forth, barefoot on the carpeted hall, trying to hear Renjun. Walking back and forth, he swallowed thickly, mouth dry. Had he really, really gotten so worse in such a short time? He pulled out his phone in a shaky hand, checking the time. 12:23 in the morning.

How had so much time passed? How had he let himself get so low?

He thunked onto one knee, burying a cough in his elbow and shakily trying to dial the first person on his contact list- any of them. His shaking was intensified by his fear now. He’d fainted once, and doing it again was not on his bucket list.

The last person he’d called was...crap, his mom. She couldn’t help him. He was about to give up and knock on a door when he felt a warm hand on his back. Jaemin flinched back violently, trying to see who had snuck up on him. It was...Jaehyun.

“Jaehyun,” he breathed.

“You’ve been gone for nearly half an hour,” the elder breathed, worried and out of breath. “I texted Renjun to have him send you back, but he hadn’t seen you. You weren’t answering, Jaeming. I thought you’d been...kidnapped, or- or ran off, or-”

“Sugar,” he gasped, using Jaehyun to shakily pull himself up. “I can’t...Jaehyun, sugar.”

Jaehyun wasn’t a dreamie. He wasn’t nearly as knowledgeable as the younger kids, especially Renjun. Hell, he hadn’t even seen that Jaemin wasn’t feeling well, and he’d scolded him while he was trying not to faint on the carpet. What kind of member- no, what kind of hyung let that happen? All he knew in that moment was that Jaemin needed some help, and he needed it right then and there.

“Sugar...crap. Okay, come here.” He easily lifted Jaemin, jogging quickly to the stairwell and descending two at a time. Jaemin was small, and he was strong, a perfect combination for the scenario. Rooming on only the second floor, the stairwell only seemed natural. “There should be a small store here, Jaemin. Just stay awake, yeah?”

Jaemin didn’t answer.

“Na Jaemin, answer me right now. What kind of treat do you want?”

“Wha?” Jaemin was getting less and less coherant as the time went on. Jaehyun found himself wondering how long he'd actually been feeling low- how long he hadn't noticed it. Did he need a snack before playing the game? During? After? Probably all three. The thirty minutes walking around, looking for help but being too confused to find it, certainly did not help his case. God, this was not the situation that Jaehyun had imagined.

“Do you want a yogurt drink?” Jaemin nodded into Jaehyun’s back. “Words, Jaemin. Use your words.”

“Yogurt’s good,” he murmured quietly. 

Finally, finally they got to the small 24 hour convenience store at the entrance of the hotel. He set Jaemin on a bench outside, rushing in and grabbing a yogurt drink from the fridge. He ran out with it, not even responding to the cashier as he yelled at him to stop. The straw was in the drink and in between Jaemin’s lips before he could even say the word, “security.”

When the cashier poked his head out of the shop and opened his mouth to speak, Jaehyun handed him some money. “This should be enough for two yogurts and a package of cookies...Get me them. Please.”

“Hey man, is he okay? You didn't...drug him or anything?”

“If I'd drugged him, why would I be trying to-" he paused, taking a breath and figuring out how to best explain the situation. "He's hypoglycemic. He needs sugar, so please…just- just do it.”

"If you say so, man." Thankfully, he seemed to understand the urgency of the situation, calling off the security guard and completing the transaction on his own. He came back with another yogurt, some cookies, and Jaehyun’s change. “Tell me if you need an ambulance.” With that, he entered his dark, cold store again, and Jaehyun was left alone.

He couldn’t just...do this alone.

He called Renjun. The younger picked up on the second ring- not asleep, then, but certainly preoccupied. “Hello?” he laughed, shushing somebody in Chinese after. Lucas. They must’ve been hanging out.

“It’s Jaehyun.”

“Oh! Hyung, do wanna talk to the fans?”

“Renjun, it’s Jaemin. He's...he's not well.”

The younger immediately got quiet. A click of a door could be heard, and it was silent. “Which room are you in? Is he talking? Did he faint? Do you have snacks?”

Jaehyun couldn't possibly answer his barrage of questions all at once. “We’re downstairs- first floor, convenience store. I found him on the ground in the hallway, so I brought him down here for some yogurt and cookies, but he won’t drink. I can’t...I don’t know what to do. If he doesn't get sugar, he'll faint, right? And fainting means a hospital trip?”

“Don't get ahead of yourself," Renjun advised, sounding somewhat out of breath. He was running. "Is he conscious?”

Jaehyun scanned his face. “He- he’s awake, but it’s like he’s not even there. What can I do? Renjun-ah, what can I do?.”

“If you can’t get him to suck the straw on his own, use your finger to trap some in the straw and put it into his mouth. Once it’s there, he’ll start to swallow, and after a few more times, he should have enough sugar to start drinking on his own. I’m on my way, so just...follow instructions.”

Jaehyun tossed the phone onto the padded bench beside Jaemin’s trembling form. He did as instructed, dribbling the thick, sweet drink into his little brother’s mouth and watching with gleeful relief as his throat bobbed. He did it again. And again and again.

“Can you hear me?” he asked. Jaemin grunted a little bit, making eye contact. “Here, it’s yogurt. Drink, Jaemin.” Jaemin’s lips fumbled around the straw for a moment before forming a solid seal and sucking. Every time he slowed, Jaehyun encouraged him to take more. He finished the first yogurt when Renjun came skidding up to the pair, panting.

“Jaemin,” he gasped, turning to Jaehyun and spotting the second yogurt. “Get him to drink that second one.” Jaehyun obeyed. The younger felt along Jaemin's neck, pulling back when he felt more sweat than normal. “Did he...what- was he exercising?”

“We were playing a tag game- running and jumping and things like that. Then he asked me if I had anything to drink- something about...being late?”

“What time was that?”

“Close to midnight. I told him that I had water, but he said that he needed to talk to you. I don’t think he knew which room was yours, though, because I found him in the hallway staggering around almost a half hour later. I thought...I thought that he was just talking to you, but then you said that you hadn’t seen him, and I thought he’d been kidnapped or something...God, I’m so stupid! I knew the symptoms!”

“He normally doesn't have a snack until right before bed. It's- it was the physical activity that threw him off. He probably didn’t show any symptoms until he was out in the hallway, hyung. It’s not your fault.” He settled onto the bench next to Jaemin, who sighed and looked over at him, not protesting when Renjun took his arm to feel his pulse. It was so odd to see him like this- the normally fiery, energetic young idol so...pliant and drained. Jaehyun was glad that he didn't have to see it often. Renjun must be quite used to it, if his attitude was anything to go by.

“Is he…is his heart okay?”

“It’s not too fast,” Renjun reassured. “Nana, how’re you feeling?”

He shrugged, smacking his lips. “Thick.”

“That’s the yogurt,” Jaehyun informed him, setting the second empty bottle down. “Should he...should he eat cookies?”

“Go ahead, they can’t hurt,” Renjun sighed. “He’ll just burn through them anyways." 

Jaehyun got the courage to ask him. "Is he always this bad? Does this happen all the time?" He couldn't imagine that it was healthy for Jaemin to feel like this very often- once a month seemed too much. Once a day seemed like a downright disease. 

Renjun shook his head, silently opening the cookies for Jaemin and setting the package in Jaemin's lap, satisfied when the other started to pick at it himself. It helped him get more aware to do small tasks on his own. It wasn't easy to transition from a muddled state of confusion and exhaustion to a heightened sugar rush. They'd learned to keep him moving and talking. "He's sitting right in front of you, hyung." Renjun knew how much the other hated being talked over, especially when he was coming out of an episode. "Jaemin, hyung was just asking how often this happened."

Jaemin took much longer to answer than Renjun probably would have, but they were happy to wait for him as he scrunched his face in concentration and chewed. "Uhm...not normally this bad. I just forgot."

Renjun nodded in agreement. "Ever since you went to the hospital that first time you've been better at taking care of it on your own. This bad of an episode hasn't happened since...what, like two or three months ago?"

"Three," Jaemin agreed. "Normally just...spacy. TIred."

Renjun turned to Jaehyun, lowering his voice. "See? Not always bad...just sometimes. And it's not always his fault either. Sometimes his body just demands more sugar than normal. Other times, the weather's too hot. There are moments when he just doesn't have time or a staff member won't let him leave to get something...Or god forbid he gets a stomach bug and throws up everything that enters his mouth."

Jaemin cringed, shuddering lightly. "Those are...awful." 

Renjun agreed, doing a final once-over of Jaemin and deeming him ready. "Hyung, as comfortable as this bench is, it's getting late, and if his sugar's under control, he’d be better off back upstairs, so-”

“Yeah, alright. Nana, can you stand?” he asked, rubbing the younger’s knee. He nodded, determined, and stood up with Jaehyun’s help. Together, they walked, Renjun leading the way and saving them an elevator. They shakily made it back up to the second floor, but even Jaehyun could see the way his confidence grew with every step. After they’d stopped by Renjun’s room for some more snacks for the next day, they were situated, alone, in their shared room.

Jaemin was about halfway through the small pack of cookies, reading the summary of the movie that Jaehyun had picked out with determination. He was pointedly avoiding Jaehyun's prying eyes.

“So, uhh...we‘ll wait to film until tomorrow.”

Jaemin nodded. “Whatever’s fine by me.”

The elder felt the need to say something to him. He couldn’t just...play the movie and let him get away with the carelessness- or...accident. Whatever it was. “Jaemin, you should know to replace the sugars that you burn during exercise.” Was that too harsh? Maybe it was good to come on strong...knock some sense into him. Jaehyun really didn't know.

Jaemin nodded. “I know, hyung. To be fair, I didn’t know we’d be playing that until the rest of them got there. I would’ve had a snack beforehand.”

“Snacked on what? You don’t even carry sweet drinks. You had to try to go to Renjun’s room so you didn’t pass out. And why didn’t you tell me you weren’t feeling well? I would’ve helped you, Jaemin.”

Jaemin glared at the floor. “I thought I could handle it.”

“You couldn’t.”

“I know that now! God, I- sorry, hyung for...for yelling, but I know I made a mistake. You don’t have to treat me like a child, okay? I’m fine.”

“But you almost weren’t Jaemin-ah. I don’t mean to nag, but when it comes to something so serious, you understand why I’m talking to you, right? You’re the closest little brother I have, and I wish that you would trust me enough to tell me these things.”

Jaemin sighed. “It’s not...it’s not about trust, hyung.”

“It’s about embarrassment?” the elder guessed, wrapping an arm around Jaemin when he nodded in agreement. “I’ve never been in your situation, so I can’t tell you how it feels, but I really wish that you wouldn’t treat me like a senior, Jaemin. I’m not your senior. I’m not your boss. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you and Taeil friends?”

“Yes.”

“And Yuta?”

“Why-”

“And Doyoung?”

“Hyung. What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that friends don’t have to be embarrassed about this stuff. Think of us like the other dreamies. They take care of you, don’t they?”

Jaemin smiled to himself. “Actually, hyung, they prefer it when they don’t have to.”

“Well I’m sure we’d all prefer not to force feed you yogurt after picking you up off the floor. It's not fun. We’d all like you to be healthy...you don’t have to be embarrassed. If you had told me that your blood sugar was a little bit low, I would’ve gone down to the store and bought you a few drinks, no hassle or fuss. Do you understand how that situation is so much preferable to the other?”

“Yes, hyung.”

“If you had fainted-”

“Yes,” Jaemin stressed, cutting him off. “I understand, hyung. I would've had to go back to the hospital.”

Jaehyun sighed contentedly. “Good. I never want that to happen again, you hear? Love you too much for that.”

“Yes, hyung.”

“Okay. Pick a movie and get under the covers. And finish the cookies.”

They spent the rest of the night curled up against one another, making fun of the sappy Japanese love story playing out in front of them, booing when the main love interest died an incredibly cheesy death, and snoring by the time the final credits rang. If Jaemin really wanted to get closer with his hyungs, he supposed that he’d have to find a new way to do it. Life or death just wasn’t cutting it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading; it really means a lot. I wasn't expecting so many comments and amazing folks on my last one, so you're all awesome!  
> Have a good day :)


End file.
